With (literal) mountains of food going to waste each year in the United Kingdom, and having touched upon the amount of food waste that is occurring in our own homes and supermarkets, we as caterers need to take stock in a bid to curb this wastage, whilst saving ourselves money.
The UK frozen food industry is worth an estimated £8 billion, not only can we save money by using more frozen foods, but we can also bolster another British industry.
But why aren’t we using more frozen food within the service industry?
There is a common problem with how frozen produce is perceived.
Fresh food has always been seen as the ‘most healthy option’, but this is not always the case.
A large proportion of the public (and those within our industry) would be unaware that a vast majority of our so-called ‘fresh produce’, especially imported fruits and vegetables, have to be frozen to stay intact during transportation.
For the most part our foreign imported food is frozen en route before being defrosted and put on our shelves.
Waste is something we can’t eliminate completely, we can only really minimise the amount of produce we throw away.
Frozen food could provide a way of decreasing the amount of ‘fresh food’ that ends up in the bin.
By instantly freezing and chilling our fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and more we are able to preserve them almost indefinitely, as long as we follow proper procedures.
Firstly we need to make sure that our frozen food items are stored correctly, be that in quality air-tight/sealed packaging, boxes or bins, and lest we forget using a quality chilled storage option.
If you need quality freezer options, we can provide all manner of solutions to help you get the most from frozen ingredients and frozen storage.
Cold rooms – Perfectly suited to storing large amounts of perishable items such as milk, meat and vegetables. Extremely cost-effective for facilities that take large deliveries and need to keep a lot of produce in reserve.
Chest freezers – Reliable bulk storage that are ideal for containing large quantities of food and produce. With a range of sizes available, a chest freezer is perfect for keeping frozen produce out-of-sight but safe for usage at a moments notice.
Upright freezers – A great kitchen option for bulk storage with easy access within your kitchen workspace.
Freezer counters – Excellent for undercounter instant access to your frozen produce, a freezer counter also doubles up as a preparation or work unit to help you get more done without compromise.